While much of the focus regarding the final month of the year seems to point towards the yet-to-be-screened American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street, we can’t forget about the next work from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who last gave us the Academy Award-winning drama A Separation. Led by The Artist star Bérénice Bejo and A Prophet‘s Tahar Rahim, The Past debuted at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and now Sony Pictures Classics is getting ready for a December release with the U.S. trailer and poster.
Following an Iranian man (Ali Mosaffa) who returns to Paris, seeking to finalize a divorce with his wife (Bejo), the conflict arises when he finds her living with a new man (Rahim) who has familial issues of his own. In our review from the premiere, we said the drama “plays out like a soap opera in terms of the details resting inside each character’s relationship and personal dilemma, yet the material is elevated by Farhadi’s carefully nuanced direction, allowing performances to take center stage. The end result is an effective examination of how past lives can sometimes dictate future selves.” Check out the trailer and U.S. poster below for the film also starring Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karmi and Valeria Cavalli.
Following a four-year separation, Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) returns to Paris from Tehran, upon his estranged French wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo)’s request, in order to finalize their divorce procedure so she can marry her new boyfriend Samir (Tahar Rahim). During his tense, brief stay, Ahmad discovers the conflicting nature of Marie’s relationship with her teenage daughter Lucie (Pauline Burlet). Ahmad’s efforts to improve this relationship soon unveil a secret from their past.
The Past opens on December 20th and expands throughout January.